Step-by-step:
Open Your Comdirect Girokonto
Comdirect runs online only — no branches, no German-only paperwork queues. The catch most expats discover three months in: the account is free only if you hit one of three monthly conditions. Here's how to open it and how to stay at €0.
Go directly to account opening →The 6 steps, in order
Application: about 6 minutes. Card and PIN in the mail within a week. No branch visit at any point.
Fill out the online application
Fill out the online application
Click "Open Girokonto" to start. Enter name, date of birth, nationality, and the address from your Anmeldung. Choose your username and PIN. Submit — your IBAN comes back on the next screen.
Tip: Have these ready before you start: passport or EU ID, Anmeldung (Meldebescheinigung), email, and a German mobile number. No Anmeldung yet? You can still apply; the bank requests it later during verification.
Save the email confirmations
Save the email confirmations
Comdirect sends four emails: application confirmation with your IBAN, the IDnow Vorgangsnummer for VideoIdent, pre-contractual documents, and the order confirmation. All four matter.
Tip: Nothing in 5 minutes? Check spam. Save the Vorgangsnummer separately — losing it means restarting the verification queue.
Verify your identity via IDnow VideoIdent
Verify your identity via IDnow VideoIdent
Comdirect uses IDnow exclusively. Open the link from your email (or the IDnow app), start the video call (5–10 minutes), show your passport or EU ID, and answer the agent's questions. All done from home — Comdirect has no branches, no PostIdent option.
Tip: Daylight beats apartment lighting. Have a second device or external mic ready in case the IDnow app struggles with built-in laptop audio — we see ~10% of first attempts fail on audio quality alone.
Activate photoTAN
Activate photoTAN
Next business day after verification, download photoTAN, log in with your participant number and PIN, scan the activation graphic. Two-factor for every login and payment from then on.
Tip: Activate within 3 hours of the unlock email. Miss the window and Comdirect mails a paper activation letter — 3 to 5 extra days for nothing.
Wait for your Visa Debit PIN
Wait for your Visa Debit PIN
PIN by post, separate envelope, 2–3 days before the card. Comdirect issues a Visa Debit Card (no Girocard) — globally accepted, but a few German retailers still want Girocard. Worth knowing if you mostly shop at small bakeries or wochenmärkte.
Tip: Store the PIN in a password manager. Add the card to Apple Pay or Google Pay the day it arrives — Apple/Google Pay also counts as one of the qualifying monthly transactions (see tips below).
Activate your Visa Debit Card
Activate your Visa Debit Card
Card arrives 4–7 days after the PIN. Activate by using it at any ATM with your PIN or by making your first contactless payment. Free withdrawals at Cash Group ATMs (Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, HypoVereinsbank, Postbank) for amounts of €50 or more.
Open Your Girokonto Now
We've guided 10,000+ expats through German banking since 2014, including the spike of online-bank switchers since 2022. This is the application — plus the conditions Comdirect mentions in small print.
Open Your Girokonto Now →What Comdirect prints in small font
How to keep the account at €0/month
The Girokonto is free for the first 6 months, period. After that, it stays free if you hit one of three conditions per month: (1) €700+ in incoming payments (salary, pension, BAföG), or (2) at least one Apple Pay or Google Pay payment, or (3) at least one Trade or executed savings-plan in your Comdirect Depot. Miss all three: €4.90/month. The Google/Apple Pay route is the easiest to hit — one €1 coffee a month keeps the account free.
Free ATM withdrawals — the €50 rule and where they apply
Visa Debit withdrawals are free at Cash Group ATMs (Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, HypoVereinsbank, Postbank — search "Cash Group ATM Berlin/Munich" in Google Maps) for amounts of €50 or more. Smaller withdrawals incur a fee. Outside Cash Group: €5.90 per withdrawal, even within Germany. Abroad in the Eurozone: free at any Visa-network ATM for €50+. Non-Eurozone abroad: 1.75% FX fee plus the ATM operator's charge.
No branches, German-leaning support
Comdirect is online only — built for self-service, not for walk-in help. Customer service is reachable by phone and chat in German, with limited English availability during business hours. If you need someone to explain a fee letter face-to-face or you do not yet speak business-level German, a branch bank (Commerzbank, Sparkasse) is the safer first account.
Where most people slip
Three patterns we see again and again: address typed differently from the Anmeldung (rejected), IDnow audio quality failing on built-in laptop mic, and assuming the account is permanently free (forgetting the post-6-month conditions). The first two cost time, the third costs €58.80/year.